Buttonhole Lake, 28 June 2009 - Report

Thanks to Mr T for putting a few words together in my absence:

Only ten members attended the match at buttonhole even though the whole lake was booked ( something for a future AGM perhaps), in liaison with the owner, pegs were well spaced and unproductive ones left out? The day started overcast and misty but come the time of the draw it was already starting to warm up and expectations were high, but as the day progressed and the temperature soared, the fish were somewhat elusive for many. With the sun beating down there were muffled expletives as third degree burns were administered to unprotected hands as poles were shipped in and out and cry’s of ‘ I’ll never play the piano again’ were heard around the lake!!

Drawing fancied peg 20 Trev first fished to the island on the waggler but unable to locate the carp both in front and in the margins, decide to target the silver fish. Fishing shallow on casters he worked hard in the sweltering heat with a steady flow of silvers coming to the net. Three quarters of the way through the match his number four section slide down the bank and disappeared into the lake, after some frantic searching, it was declared lost and without a replacement with him he carried on with the rod and wag until the final whistle. At the weigh-in he had a respectable and hard earned 33lb of silvers plus a nice tench and a specimen bream of 5lb 17oz? ( JB now on scales!!) finishing third with a total weight of 41lb 8oz.

At right angles to Trev and fishing the same bay was Ray T on peg 23, after speaking to Mr Button ( owner) before the match, he decided to take his advise and fish long out into the bay at 13 metres and cup in plenty of catmeat and pellet from the off. Fishing catmeat to a 14’s in eight foot of water he was soon into a couple of carp early on but this soon dried up and the margins weren’t producing either, but regular cupping in at distance slowly brought the carp in and by early afternoon they were steadily coming to the net. A short session later in the margins brought him some bonus fish on pellet including another specimen bream of 6lb 1oz. Not wanting to be out done by Trev on the pole front, ten minutes before the end of the match he ‘popped’ the top five sections off his pole on a carp which towed it around the bay like a barge. With it heading for the aerator and a good shredding, Mr T scampered after it with the remaining sections of his pole and manage to reclaim it and with the kind assistance from Dennis, also landed the fish (fish was released). At the scales Ray T secured second place with 61lb 4oz.

Unbeknown to the rest of us at the top of the lake, the real action was happening at the other end. Drawn peg 12 by proxy as Jon Bowland was running late ( what!! JB late..never!!) he plumped for a surface bait tactic for stunning effect. Fishing floating dog biscuit it was slow to start but come the afternoon, they were ‘having it’ and put together a nice couple of nets of fish. At the weigh in a nonchalant JB quipped ‘ only got four in this net, as he slipped four slabs into the weigh net which sent the scales pointer slamming round to 44lbs ( er, me thinks these are all doubles gentlemen), bringing out the second net for the ‘coup de grace’ (that’s froggy language for` you are all stuffed’) takes his total to a match winning 94lb 4oz. Nice one mate.

Taking the winners pot, he missed out on the ‘winner takes all kitty’ as he was late arriving so this went to runner up Ray T, on being asked how he felt about this unexpected windfall Mr T replied, JB’s doing a good job and should continue to arrive let in the future.

You could say the match was a game of two half’s as the weights came from both ends of the lake around the area of the aerators, considering the heat it was unsurprising but the club members did well as the weights were well above the previous days match also fished by ten anglers.

Mr T Tries to Stitch up the Button Hole

MR 'T' TRIES TO STITCH UP BUTTONHOLE LAKE!!

As is my way with match venues that I haven't fished before, I like to have a practise session, this serves two purpose's, one, find the place and how long the journey takes so I'm not late for the match and secondly try and understand the venue, what works, what doesn,t.I'd found the place on Google Earth and it seems in the middle of nowhere, although it was surprisingly easy to find. Once you enter Marshland St. James and turn on to School Lane drive as far as the pub( nice pub by the way, anyone up for an after match pint, this might be a good way of relieving the winner of his winnings), this is the last building on your left or first building on your right depending on which direction your coming from, and turn right immediately opposite, down road which becomes a gravel track and before it becomes grass turn right into the car park.

Before I unload the car its time for a amble round the lake and get my bearings, only one fishing at the moment (8.00am). Peg 1 is the first peg on the right of the lake as you enter and goes anti-clockwise round to peg 25. Roughly, peg 19 round to peg 5 is a large bay and no features, the rest of the pegs have the island in front of you, although its 14 metres away (min), ok for all you young bucks, but bloody hard work for us oldies!! A quick chat with the bloke fishing on peg 20, he tells me he's already had a 18lb carp, when I ask him what he's fishing on he tells me he only uses maggot ( it may be true but I think he's talking cobblers so I move on and talk to the owner).The owner is a thoroughly nice bloke, very helpful, he said the Tuesday evening match that is held every week didn't fish too well as the lakes not really on form yet after spawning but he did win the match with 39lb off peg 24, this comprised of some carp and tench plus 3 bream to 6lb.I asked him where I should fish as we have a match here Sunday, he says he as a booking for 15 pegs Sunday for us, but we can choose which pegs we want if we let him know in advance ( I've e-mailed Jonty, I think he's on to it). So, I plump for peg 8 towards the end of the island, it had a tree there for a bit of shade as it looked like I was in for a glorious sunny day plus I tend to go for an average swim when match practising, chances are that's what you draw rather than the flyer.

So, am I going to tell you which method works best? Well I start of by plumbing the depth,as you do.First up to the island, try and find the shelf, well there isn't one, its straight off the eiger, except of course for the thick carpet of tree roots, well that's one plummet gone for a burton already!!once clear of the roots its straight down to 5ft in old money ( 1.7333 metres recurring or something like that).So, we pop a bit of catmeat, pellet and corn over there and follow with the rig and a piece of the trusty catmeat from the kid himself. The float cocks, gives me the two fingers and disappears, out goes the elastic, the fish goes into kamikaze mode but after a very spirited battle gives up to superior forces and a nice conditioned tench of 3lb is in the net, em nice start, will it last. Out again, the float settles, has some sort of orgasm and buries, I think this fish is having bets with its mates to see how far they can get an elastic to stretch as it tanks off down the island.After another epic battle a nice ghostie ( I think they are all on steroids) surrenders to the net greeted by a standing ovation from the crowd gathered behind me (only kidding, I'm on my own down here), this is followed by another tench.But fishing at this distance is doing me in and as the depth of water doesn't change much, 6ft tops, I drop a section and come in a bit and try again, I still catch, I try pellet, I try sweetcorn, they all work.I drop another couple of sections ( now we getting comfortable) and cup some bait in, in a short while we are in the action again, tench, F1's, quality roach and rudd, skimmers, mirror carp, you just don't know what's coming next. I even had skimmers and tench up in the water.

As you know, time flyes when your enjoying yourself, and as my stomach thought my throat had been cut, it was time for a spot of lunch under the shade of the tree as its a bit of a sun trap here and I am gently frying, also a good time to take stock of the session. As the egg mayo filing of my butty gently slips down the front of my T shirt (that will be a bollocking later) I contemplate the days findings so far, everything seems to work everywhere except the margin, time to give that a go next.

Cupping in a bit of feed to my left, can't go to the right as there's a tree stump blocking my way. First up we try a piece of catmeat, but other than it getting whittled away by the smaller fish sharpening up their teeth, the float just gave me the two fingers and decide to sulk,as I was having none of it I change to pellet, I gave the float the one finger, told it to swivel, it did and buried as a nice tench of 5lb towed it up the lake. Alternating hook baits in the margin saw fish regularly coming to the net, including some very nice roach ( I wonder how this fishery does in the winter?) So, at the end of the day how did I do, well my clicker says seventy one pounds, I tend to be conservative about weights when pleasure fishing, no forfeit for going over and I tend not to include anything under 8oz. Is there a particular tactic that works here better than others, well on the day I would say no.There are no bait bans here (very refreshing) and the general stamp of fish here is very good, if the fish are having it on the day its going to be an interesting match.

I've enjoyed it here today, I hope you do too. If this report helps you win the match on Sunday, mines a pint of Fosters.I was so impressed by the venue and the owner, I shall return for other pleasure session, I hope you can join me. As our old mate Arny said ' I'LL BE BACK'

Photos to follow.....

Button Hole - Net Requirements

You'll need a minimum of 2 nets, one for carp, one for silvers. Max 50lb in a net but the bailiff doesn't seem too concerned if this is exceeded. I suggest take a spare, especially if you get up to 50lb with plenty of time left on the clock.

Ray "Mr T" Torrington went for a 'practice' session yesterday, I am expecting a bit of a report from him soon so watch this space for further info...

I wont be there Sunday but I did call the bailiff, Tony (number off the venue we site) and this is what he told me:

Island pegs:

Fish tight to the island (14-14.5m) on the shelf (6-12 inches deep) with big baits (cat meat or paste). Bites will either be small dips or your pole will be pulled round. Small dibber floats best.

Open Water Pegs:

Fish long (11-13m) with pellet/paste and look for signs of fish shallow. if they come shallow feed and fish for them there. Pole line depth vary from 5-7 feet, depending on what end of the lake you are at.

Any Peg:

Feed the margins: these will produce but are best when there is not much bank side disturbance. I'd suggest catmeat or paste for the better fish from what I have gleened.

Dont ignore the silvers: A match was won recently with 70lb of rudd caught 12inches deep at 2-3m on maggot. Keep dripping in the feed. I suggest keeping an eye on others around you and if carp aren't being caught, get on this line to add a few lb to your weight.

Tony also said dont be shy with the feed but I'd suggest not to dump a load in as you cant take it out!

Hope this helps

Jonty

Buttonhole Lake, 28 June 2009 - Driving Directions

Button Hole Lake
Rand Drove
Marshland St James
Wisbech, Cambs
PE14 8HA

Directions

 

Once at Marshland St James turn at the cross road onto School Road (next to Hickathrift Residential home) carry on to the Marshland Arms pub, directly opposite is Rands drove which leads to the lake.